Ranked #10663

Lives (Manga)

Taguchi Masayuki, the author of the hit Battle Royale, takes us into a world of lush, verdant vegetation and........ monsters. Big, Bad, nasty, hungry, monsters. How do we get there? You have to get hit by a meteor.

The story was VERY PROMISING in the beginning. Without spoiling too much, the story is about an alternate world (mainly a rain forest) where humans turn into monsters and eat each other. The main characters are just trying their best to survive.

The story is divided into three separate arcs. The first arc is the "present," where the heroine gets transported into the alternate world and meets the new hero protagonist. The Second arc is the "past," where we are presented with the events that happened before the heroine met the hero. The third arc is back into the "present," continuing off where the hero and the heroine meet.

I found the story to be very enjoyable to read, but also very depressing. This isnt one of those happy go lucky - alls - well - that - ends - well manga. The manga delivers a deep philosophical message about.... redemption. How one can redeem him/herself if he or she has done something regrettable. How its not too late to atone for your mistakes.

The worst thing about the story has got to be the ending. The ending was WAAAAAAY too rushed. Just when we though we were answering some questions, the manga gives us new ones and just leave us unsatisfied. They also dont tell us what happened to the main characters. What happened? Where are they now? Did they die? Are they okay? These sort of questions popped into my mind at the end of the series.

Nonetheless, it was a very good read and I enjoyed every second of it.

The art is very well drawn. Its graphic and gory, getting down to the details of the organs and such. The women all look beautiful, the men look (normal), and the monsters look hideous and cool. Perfect style for this type of manga.

I found most of the characters to be likable. Even though I loved all of them (even the bad ones), I want to focus on the main protagonist, Shinma Shingo. Shinma Shingo is a happy go lucky eccentric guy who hates fighting, even though he is good at it. He teaches others what his master has taught him, giving others hope when they're in the pits of despair. Hes funny, gentle, and good looking (even though he's bald). Shingo has to be my most favorite character.

Character development can be found throughout this series. Because of Shingo and his teachings from his master, other characters such as Ma boy had the strength to stand up for himself and look at himself in a new light. Not just Ma boy, but others as well.

I enjoyed this manga thoroughly. I recommend it to anyone who is into gore and touchy feel (lol). This manga is only 10 chapters so it will probably take around 15 ~ 20 minutes to read.
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Afterlife, for the most part when mentioned something like clouds and angel wings, or brimstone and horns comes to mind. "Lives" shows it's own perpective on "afterlife" in a unique and engaging way.

Story: 8/10
The story starts out with the members of an idol group having a dream about meteorites hitting the stage and killing them during their performance. They soon find out that was true, and they were in a strange world with man-eating monsters that try to hunt them down. The last surviving idol is saved by a mysterious beast, who turns out to be human, which is the main character, he then tells her the story of where they are, and how they got there.

The story focuses around the main character Shingo, showing his life before and after the meteorite incident, and his adventures with his two friends Hatsuki and Mamoru (who is called Ma-boy by the other two). It revolves around the concept of afterlife and redeeming oneself for past mistakes.

The story builds up to create what would seem like something epic, but gets extremely rushed towards the end, when you think questions will finally be answered, they aren't, and some loose ends are left because of that.
Don't let that discourage you though, it is still a great read, it has great funny moments, great battles and some drama, and is an all around solid story.

Art: 8/10
The artwork for this manga is just phenomenal, character design is spot on, very beautiful and memorable looking characters. The backgrounds are also good, but nothing as fun to look at as the character design.

Characters: 8/10
The characters personalities are very well done and are all very likable. Enough backstory for each of them is shown for us to get to know them well.
Also, Shingo, although the main character, also serves as a comic relief when the story feels like it's getting too dramatic, most times it works, but sometimes the comedy seems misplaced.

Enjoyment: 8/10
It's a short but very good read, unfortunately it's length does some damage to the story towards the end, but nothing that will stop you from enjoying this great manga. I would definetly re-read this. And I would hope for a follow-up to finish off the loose ends.

Overall: 8/10
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